Gunmen kill at least seven worshippers inside Afghan mosque

Twelve wounded in attack during evening prayers

Afghan security forces sit in a Humvee vehicle amid ongoing fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces in Kunduz on May 19, 2020. Afghan security forces on May 19 repelled a fierce Taliban attack on Kunduz, officials said, a strategic city in northern Afghanistan that had briefly fallen to the militants twice in the past. / AFP / STR

Afghan security forces sit in a Humvee vehicle amid ongoing fighting between Taliban militants and Afghan security forces in Kunduz. AFP

The National

May 19, 2020

Gunmen opened fire on worshippers in an Afghanistan mosque, killing at least seven, police said.

Twelve people were wounded as they held evening prayers in Khelalzai village in the province of Parwan, north of Kabul.

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It was not immediately clear how many attackers there were or how they left the area.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, eight Afghan soldiers were killed while repelling a Taliban attack on Kunduz, a strategic city in the country's north.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan since the Taliban signed a deal with the US in February, under which Washington said it would withdraw its troops from the country in return for security guarantees.

The UN has blamed the Taliban and Afghan security forces for violence that has led to a rise in civilian casualties.

The Taliban were responsible for 208 civilian casualties in April, 25 per cent more than the same month last year, the UN mission to Afghanistan said.

It said Afghan Security Forces killed 172 civilians, for an increase of 38 per cent.